Selfish Protection
by Stripe
Summary: Sometimes, protecting somebody else is the worst way to keep them safe. Mangabased, EdWinry
1. Concequence

Disclaimer - I do not own the idea for Fullmetal Alchemist in any way shape or form. Please don't sue. Thank you!

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Selfish Protection

Written by - Stripe

Prolouge - Concequence

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It was dark and dank in the underground cavern he was currently being paraded through, and the wetness of the place was very uncomfortable on Edward's automail. However, the alchemist made no outwards indications of complaint. He was careful and obidient.

One wrong move would end Winry's life. For him to make a complaint would be selfish. He'd already been selfish enough when it came to her well-being - if she didn't hate him by now, it would honestly be a miracle. He let out a soft puff of air, casting a quick glance to his left to see if the homunculus who so greatly resembled Ling would see that as a threat. It made no change in expression, so Edward figured he was safe for the time being. Of course, it was entirely possible that the clanking of his brother's body had masked the discontent sigh. Sometimes it was hard to anticipate when such things could come in handy.

Suddenly, the cavern they were tavelling through opened up to a large open chamber carved out of the rock. Edward grimaced. He had been here before. And, in all honesty, he hadn't wanted to come here again - especially not under these conditions. But the hulking hommunculi behind him forced him forward, despite how badly Edward didn't want to be there. After all, he didn't figure Sloth was bright enough to realize that squishing one of the so-called "human sacrifices" was probably not a good idea. Or, at least not until he was scolded for it, in which case, it would be too late.

About a quarter of the way into the room, Ling - or Greed, as he was now - held out a hand to stop the two brothers. Now not having walking forward to focus on, Edward examined the room more closely. They were not the only people there, which was something he could tell Al noticed immediately. There wasn't a single unfamiliar face in the room. Standing nearby was Roy Mustang, and standing next to him was Selim Bradley, whom Edward now knew to be Pride. Just beyond them was the new Gluttony - who looked exactly like the old Gluttony - standing behind the almost unrecognizable Marcoh and the Xingian girl - Mei Chan. On their other side was King Bradley - or Wrath - standing behind their teacher, who had a silent look of defiance on her face. And standing just beyond them was a face Edward had never wished to see again - Hohenheim. Unlike the others, he had no hommunculi behind him, signifying he was likely here by choice.

It was all Edward could do to keep from punching in the man's face right then and there. The only thing holding him back from doing so, really, was the threat of Winry's well-being which they teased him with - like holding a dog biscuit just out of reach of a dog. The metaphor couldn't be more fitting. A dog was exactly how they were treating him - both a dog of the military, and a grudgingly obedient lapdog, who only listened to commands in hopes that one day, the hand holding the biscuit would fall low enough for him to reach.

However, something was gnawing at the back of the young alchemist's mind... Something missing. Lust was dead, having been killed by Mustang a long time ago. Sloth and Greed were guarding him and Al. Wrath and Pride were watching over their own targets, as well as Gluttony. There was just one homunculus unaccounted for...

"Hello, pipsqueak."

Edward glanced up quickly, his eyes immediately drawn to the farest edge of the room. Standing there was Envy, with a wicked smirk stretched across his face. However, that wasn't what really alarmed the alchemist. Instead, it was the girl he was holding by her long, blonde hair, making sure she didn't attempt to get free.

"Winry!" As an automatic reaction, he took a few steps in her direction, only to be stopped by a bone-chilling voice eminating from the center of the room.

"Do not move, Edward Elric." Ed froze in his tracks as Envy's right hand - the one which wasn't holding Winry's hair - transformed into a lethal blade, which was then held up against the female mechanic's throat. For the time being, Ed knew it was an empty threat, but he wasn't going to push his luck. Instead, the short blonde turned to the center of the room, where a man who looked suspiciously like Hohenheim sat in a large chair.

Father.

Edward's face twisted further into a frown, as he watched the man to try and judge his actions. Whatever his plan was, it was seemingly about to be carried out, based on the "human sacrifices" he had gathered. The eventual goal was to get rid of Father, save Winry, and then get out of here. And Ed needed to be constantly vigilant if he wanted to fufill any part of that, let alone all of it.

Slowly, he backed up to the spot he'd been in before, behaving as any trained dog should. He glanced up to Al, who's hulking figure showed no sign of any worries he might have had. In fact, had it not been for the small glint of life behind the helmet which Ed recognized as Al's soul, he might have thought that the armor was simply something placed on display in an old museum of some sort. The posture was perfect.

Ed glanced to the rest of the room - the other "sacrifices." Somehow, it seemed as if there were too many there. He'd been under the impression that only five were needed, but there were seven alchemists here. He wasn't entirely certain that all of them had seen "Truth" either - last time he'd consulted Mustang about it, the man seemed oblivious. Ed didn't believe that Marcoh would have the guts, and he wasn't entirely sure Rentanasu would be able to access the Truth. So, in truth, there were likely only 4 human sacrifices here

What was Father planning? Was he hoping to find a loophole or something?

After glancing back over the other alchemists, most of whom had somber expressions on their faces - excluding Mei Chan, who looked ready to cry - he looked back to Father. The man seemed to be waiting for something... Edward clenched his fists as tight as he could, trying to relieve some of the tension he felt. No one was speaking - no one was giving any hint at what he should do.

The alchemist's golden eyes flickered back to Winry, who was making obvious effort to free herself from Envy. Edward willed her to stop moving - to stop struggling - so that they wouldn't hurt her, but he knew that she wouldn't give up so easily. That was partly what he admired her for. Unfortunately, she wasn't watching the homunculus's expression, which was slowly getting more aggravated as she struggled. Finally, the transformed blade which had been resting gently against her neck was raised and slashed across her face, creating a deep gash across her cheek.

Edward's rage boiled over as he saw the blood seep through the wound, and he was vaugely aware of Al's armor clanking beside him - likely in an automatic reaction to try and stop what had happened.

"You bastards! I told you not to hurt her!" Without thinking, Edward's palms slammed together, which quickly alarmed the other alchemists in the room.

"Fullmetal! Stop it now!"

"Don't transmute!"

"Thank about what you're doing!"

"Ed!" Winry, whom Envy had now let go of, shouted this last statement, watching in horror as her best client's hands feel to the ground, seemingly in slow motion. "Don't do it!"

However, by the time Edward realized that he was falling into a trap, his hands were already pressed to the ground. It was too late.

The previously hidden transmutation circle began to glow.

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A/N - This is my first time submitting a fanfiction on here in... Geez, almost two years I think. So I'm probably a little rusty. A beta reader would be much appreciated, as my computer lacks a spell checker.

And yes, this is one of those annoying stories where it starts out with a scene from the middle. We're backtracking quite a bit next chapter. See you then!

Reviews would be lovely, too, by the way.

---- Stripe


	2. A Rude Awakening

((Sorry for the chapter mix-up. This is the right one.))

Disclaimer - I do not own the idea for Fullmetal Alchemist in any way shape or form. Please don't sue. Thank you!

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Selfish Protection

Written by - Stripe

Chapter 1 - A Rude Awakening

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_RIIING..._

Winry rolled over in bed, covering her head her arm, trying to block out the sound. Why did she have a phone in her room, anyways?

_RIIING..._

That's right, she didn't. The girl opened open, groggy blue eye and tried to figure out where she was. Why wasn't Garfiel answering the phone? He was the person who owned the shop, after all.

_RIIING..._

Flopping off of the couch, Winry reached out for the phone chord on the final ring, barely knocking the phone off of the stand in time. Pushing herself up, she held the phone to her ear, still not fully alert.

"Hello?" she asked blearily, swallowing a yawn.

"Hey, Winry?" came the voice on the other end. The blonde girl paused for a moment, her mind still half asleep as she tried to place the voice. It sounded like him... but he never called. She must be too tired.

"May I ask who's speaking?" she asked politley, though she already knew who it was. She simply needed her ears to confirm it. There was a puase on the other end of the line, the other person sounding as if he were somewhat hurt.

"It's me!" he said after the second's pause. "Ed!" Winry smiled slightly, happy simply to hear his voice, until she realized she was still lacking one vital piece of information.

"Why are you calling? You never call. I didn't even know you knew this number." There was another pause, and Winry could easily envision the guilty expression on Ed's face. She could understand why he never called - being busy and all - but she was sick of the lack of communication between them. Anymore, with her being in a larger city, and his automail getting busted so often, she at least saw Edward more often, but he still wouldn't tell her anything.

"I need you to work on my automail a bit," he said after apaprently getting over his guilt.

"Did you break it again?"

"N-no! It's just..." he trailed off a bit, and Winry frowned, wondering why he would need to trail off on why he needed an automail check up. He hadn't completely destroyed it again, had he? More awake now, the mechanic glanced to her wrench which was sitting on a side table nearby. She let out a sigh. Better get ready to use that...

"When should I expect you?" she asked, flattening out her clothes. She really looked a mess right now... Sleeping on the couch would do that. Why had she slept there? Memories from the night before began to trickle back into the corners of her mind. She'd had to do some repairs late at night. And repairs could be exhausting, so she'd just plopped down on the couch and crashed. Nothing big, even if her now-stiff neck muscles would hate her for it later.

"Um, that's why we're calling. See, we got in a few hours ago, and we don't really have a place to stay, but you didn't answer when we knocked, so..." Ed trailed off slightly, his voice sounding somewhat nervous. Which was understandable. Winry knew she would likely hurt him had he been within range of her wrench.

"Where are you now?"

"At the phonebooth across the street." Winry frowned slightly, and hung up the phone. It wasn't meant to be a rude gesture - she just figured that if he were telling the truth, she could talk to him face to face in a minute or so, and if he were lying, he deserved to be hung up on anyways. Quickly running her hand through her hair in order to have it all going in one direction instead of several, she walked towards the window and peeked through the blinds. Her eyes quickly spotted the telephone booth in question. Sure enough, standing in front of it was a suit of armor too large to comfortabley fit inside, and standing inside of it was a blonde teenager, who was staring irritabley at the phone. Winry let a slow smile cross her face.

It really was nice to see them again.

The mechanic quickly glanced down at her clothes, trying to make sure that she wasn't indecent. Of course, Ed and Al had both seen her in her underwear(albiet, it was by accident) so it wasn't for either of their sakes - she simply didn't want the casual passerby to see her. Luckily, she had just fallen asleep in her work clothes and, while they weren't the most modest clothes she could wear, they were acceptable for public appearances.

Besides, it wasn't as if she were about to go parading down the street or anything.

Throwing open the front door, Winry began flailing her arms, trying to get the brothers' attentions. "Hey, get inside already!" she shouted, her grin only widening as she saw them turn around in unison. Both rushed over to the door, Al winning out simply because he didn't need to climb through a telephone booth first. Curiously, Winry watched Ed's automail arm and leg working. She couldn't see them at the moment, but they seemed to be functioning just fine. She stepped aside to let the two into the shop, closing the door behind her once they were both inside.

"So why are you here?" she asked, eyeing the state alchemist suspiciously.

"We found a new lead on getting Al's body back," Edward responded simply. Winry blinked in surprise.

"That's great. But... why are you telling me about it?" Winry asked. "Usually you just go after the leads and leave me in the dark."

"It's up North." Winry's mouth formed a small "o" shaped in understanding. She wouldn't have expected Ed to think this through, but going up to a snowy area with his type of automail was a death sentence.

"And you want me to remodel your automail?" she asked, already taking stock of the materials, how long it would take to make the automail, how much of the old automail she could reuse, whether or not she could do it by herself. Edward nodded in confirmation.

"Also, how quickly do you think you can close up shop and be ready to leave?" Winry paused mid-calculation, looking shocked.

"Leave? Me? Why? Are you in a hurry? I can have your automail done by today, I don't need to come with you." However, the look in Ed's eyes told her that she wouldn't really have a choice in the matter. "I can't just close up the place! What about Garfiel's customers? He isn't planning on coming back until a week from now!"

"You need to tell him to stay wherever he is right now," Edward said. "Tell him to watch his back." Winry frowned. She still wasn't getting answers.

"Why? Tell me what's going on. Don't I deserve to know?" There was a moment of akward silence after Winry said this, and Ed and Al looked at each other for a moment. Edward glanced to the side, averting Winry's gaze, while Al finally decided to speak up.

"We need you to do this Winry. It's for your own safety." He said, tone grave. "Because right now, you're being used as a hostage."

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A/N - Told you we were backtracking. Which is why this chapter is so boring compared to the prolouge. Also why it took me so long to write. Just wouldn't come out easily. But if you ever need some EdWin, you can get your daily dose at my collection of oneshots called the "EdWin Chronicles." Go shameless self-advertising! 

And if you hadn't gotten this by now, the plot is sort of a "what-if" story, being if, after Ed had his talk with Wrath, he decided to see to it that Winry was safe himself. And didn't call her and make a fluffy telephone conversation. I love the scene, but it doesn't fit in here. Alas.

I would also like to thank you all for your encouraging reviews. x3 I love you guys!

And, of course, more reviews would be greatly appreciated. As well as a beta reader.

---- Stripe


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